08-02-2025, 11:52 AM
Suggested Setup Options
1. QNAP HS-264 – Fanless, Silent, Affordable (~$850 AUD + drives)
• Pros: Fanless design, runs quiet in studios and living rooms, supports 2x 2.5” SATA SSDs, solid for direct-play Plex.
• Cons: No M.2 support, limited to 2-bay, and no 10GbE.
• Use Case Fit: Great for silent Plex and collaborative file sharing, less ideal if you need top-tier editing I/O speeds.
2. UGREEN DXP4800/6800 Pro (~$600–$800 AUD + drives)
• Pros: Budget-friendly, supports NVMe SSDs, very quiet (2.5GbE or 10GbE on some models), runs third-party OS like TrueNAS or UnRAID.
• Cons: Not official QNAP/Synology-level software polish, but great for DIY or power users.
• Use Case Fit: Better suited if you want full NVMe performance, custom OS, and are okay with a bit more manual setup.
3. Synology DS923+ with 2x M.2 NVMe (quiet fans, ~$900 AUD)
• Pros: Near silent, polished DSM OS, supports NVMe caching (or pools with Synology drives), strong Plex for direct play.
• Cons: No GPU for transcoding, and NVMe-only storage pool limited to Synology SSDs (workarounds exist).
• Use Case Fit: Excellent UI for sharing, easy to manage, just make sure your TV app plays formats directly (Plex Direct Play).
⸻
If silence is your top priority and you can work with 2.5” SATA SSDs, the QNAP HS-264 is honestly still one of the best options. You can fill it with 2x 4TB SSDs and get a clean, quiet experience in your studio and living room. If you want more horsepower, and don’t mind a little more noise mitigation (e.g., placing it in an adjacent room or closet with good ventilation), the QNAP BS-h574TX is strong but may be overkill unless you need that Thunderbolt uplink constantly.
If your 4K content is Direct Play compatible (meaning your TV’s Plex app supports the format natively), you won’t need GPU transcoding at all. But if you expect to stream HEVC or need to transcode audio/video for older TVs, QNAP units with i3/i5 or a GPU option (like the TVS-h674) are more ideal — though pricier and noisier.
Alternatively, if you’re comfortable going DIY or third-party OS (like UnRAID or TrueNAS SCALE), a UGREEN DXP6800 Pro or similar with NVMe-only storage can hit that silent high-speed sweet spot with more flexibility than QNAP/Synology — just less hand-holding.
1. QNAP HS-264 – Fanless, Silent, Affordable (~$850 AUD + drives)
• Pros: Fanless design, runs quiet in studios and living rooms, supports 2x 2.5” SATA SSDs, solid for direct-play Plex.
• Cons: No M.2 support, limited to 2-bay, and no 10GbE.
• Use Case Fit: Great for silent Plex and collaborative file sharing, less ideal if you need top-tier editing I/O speeds.
2. UGREEN DXP4800/6800 Pro (~$600–$800 AUD + drives)
• Pros: Budget-friendly, supports NVMe SSDs, very quiet (2.5GbE or 10GbE on some models), runs third-party OS like TrueNAS or UnRAID.
• Cons: Not official QNAP/Synology-level software polish, but great for DIY or power users.
• Use Case Fit: Better suited if you want full NVMe performance, custom OS, and are okay with a bit more manual setup.
3. Synology DS923+ with 2x M.2 NVMe (quiet fans, ~$900 AUD)
• Pros: Near silent, polished DSM OS, supports NVMe caching (or pools with Synology drives), strong Plex for direct play.
• Cons: No GPU for transcoding, and NVMe-only storage pool limited to Synology SSDs (workarounds exist).
• Use Case Fit: Excellent UI for sharing, easy to manage, just make sure your TV app plays formats directly (Plex Direct Play).
⸻
If silence is your top priority and you can work with 2.5” SATA SSDs, the QNAP HS-264 is honestly still one of the best options. You can fill it with 2x 4TB SSDs and get a clean, quiet experience in your studio and living room. If you want more horsepower, and don’t mind a little more noise mitigation (e.g., placing it in an adjacent room or closet with good ventilation), the QNAP BS-h574TX is strong but may be overkill unless you need that Thunderbolt uplink constantly.
If your 4K content is Direct Play compatible (meaning your TV’s Plex app supports the format natively), you won’t need GPU transcoding at all. But if you expect to stream HEVC or need to transcode audio/video for older TVs, QNAP units with i3/i5 or a GPU option (like the TVS-h674) are more ideal — though pricier and noisier.
Alternatively, if you’re comfortable going DIY or third-party OS (like UnRAID or TrueNAS SCALE), a UGREEN DXP6800 Pro or similar with NVMe-only storage can hit that silent high-speed sweet spot with more flexibility than QNAP/Synology — just less hand-holding.